A DISABLED teenager is “devastated” after cash-strapped education chiefs denied her a place at a college for pupils with special needs.

Emily Royle, 19, who suffers from hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and epilepsy, was due to begin her first term at Pengwern College in Rhuddlan yesterday, where she would have lived for three years.

But Emily, of Carreglefn, Amlwch, has been left stranded after Anglesey County Council scrapped her funding just days ago.

Four other youngsters are also reported to have been left without a placement because of an overspend by the education department.

Mum Karen, 46, had already paid for bedding, clothes and furniture for her daughter, as well as travelling to Denbighshire several times for open days and interviews.

The Welsh Assembly Government had given £45,000 towards Emily’s Pengwern placement, but Anglesey said they were unable to match it.

Karen, who is in chemotherapy and recovering from bowel cancer, plans to appeal against the decision. “We can’t believe they’ve turned Emily down because their education department has overspent,” said Karen, whose own mum has dementia and dad suffers with motor neurone disease.

“They only rang us on Friday to tell us. We’re all devastated and now need to find an alternative. But there aren’t any around – we’ve no other options.

“I just don’t understand why they’ve waited until the last minute to do it. Emily was so looking forward to going, she is a bright and intelligent young girl who could not wait to start at Pengwern.

“There are no other colleges offering places like this. I’ve been fighting for her my whole life and I’m not going to stop now.”

Emily said: “I’m devastated. I was looking forward to going to Pengwern College and am really sad I won’t be going there now.”

Emily has suffered with hydrocephalus since being diagnosed with a rare type of meningitis – Proteus Mirabilis Meningitis – as a baby.

She later underwent a VP (Ventriculoperitoneal) shunt at the Walton Neurological Centre in Liverpool to relieve pressure inside the skull.

Karen said her daughter deserves a vibrant education and proper care. “Emily would have benefited from living and learning at Pengwern,” she said. “Her understanding of certain things is limited but she is intelligent and is so good. We want her to become more independent so one day she could get her own place to live.

“She’s been attending a unit here in Llangefni over the summer – and don’t get me wrong, they do a wonderful job there. But everybody is older than Emily, they are content to sit around all day whereas she is active, loves riding her horse, Lucy, and being outdoors. She has so much guts and can do so many things – she’s amazing and we’re all heartbroken, especially Emily.”

Pengwern is an independent specialist college for mentally handicapped youngsters up to 25 years old. It offers individual programmes to help learners understand and tackle their emotional difficulties.

Nobody from the college was available for comment, and a spokesman for Anglesey council said he was unable to discuss “individual cases”. He added: “In accordance with national and departmental guidelines, social services assesses each individual’s needs on their own merits.

“Any care plan proposed takes into account a range of factors. We endeavour to support individuals to remain within their local community and to utilise a range of resources available to us.”